The hooves of the equine species such as horses, ponies, burrows, mules and the like require daily care and cleaning in order to minimize the threat of infection or injury. This task is complicated by modern day farrier methods, which for medical purposes, are designed to correct lameness, but also can inhibit the cleaning process. Veterinary prescriptions now call for corrective shoeing, special horseshoes, and new trimming methods. As a direct result of these innovations, today's animals can encounter hoof care and cleaning problems that were unknown in the past.
In the past 100 years the technology of the farrier art has changed dramatically. Yet with all these advances in knowledge and technology, no corresponding advances have been made to the tools the owner must use to clean hooves to which special veterinary prescriptions or farrier methods have been applied. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 544,540 to Jones discloses a foot hook for horses which is used for cleaning dirt from the outside and bottom of the hoof. A hook is used for picking out the dirt about the frog and the cracks of the hoof, a knife is used for veterinary purposes, and a screwdriver edge for general farrier use. The hook of Jones cannot be effectively used for the care and cleaning the hooves of the modern equine species that have corrective shoeing such as pads, rim-pads, wedges, egg bar shoes, reverse shoes, etc. installed. It would be mechanically impossible for this prior art to remove debris from the small spaces and crevices that are blocked by special corrective devices. Further, the hook of Jones is sharp, and could therefore easily injure the animal or user if used inappropriately by non-professionals.
Other hoof cleaning tools are currently available on the market. These basically consist of a screwdriver blade which is attached to a handle. These too are ineffective in cleaning hooves having special corrective devices. They are badly balanced and awkward to use, and many have sharp edges that can damage the animal's hooves or even inflict injury to the handler of the tool. Due to the improper design of these existing products, cleaning takes both a long time and is ineffective.